As Parliment Session begins, 25 MPs Test Positive For Coronavirus

New Delhi: Seventeen members of Loksabha and Eight members from Rajya Sabha have tested positive for coronavirus in the mandatory tests conducted before the Monsoon Session of Parliament which began on Monday.

As many as 12 MPs from the BJP the most from any party in Lok Sabha, were found infected with the disease during the test followed by the YSR Congress's two MPs and one each of the DMK, the Shiv Sena and the RLP.

Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Meenakshi Lekhi, Anant Kumar Hegde and Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma are among 17 Member of Parliament (MPs) who have tested positive for coronavirus.

Others who have been detected Covid-19 positive include Pratap Rao Jadav, Janardan Singh, Sukhbir Singh, Hanuman Beniwal, Sukanata Majumdar, Goddeti Madhavi, Bidyut Baran, Pradan Baruah, N. Reddeppa, Selvam G, Pratap Rao Patil, Ram Shankar Katheria, Satya Pal Singh and Rodmal Nagar.

The Lok Sabha members were tested at the Parliament House on September 13 and 14-- a during a mandatory test for those attending this year's Monsoon Session which will end on October 1.

Sources said altogether, 56 people tested positive during the RT-PCR Tests conducted in the parliament building complex by September 12. The figure includes officials, media persons and MPs of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

BJP MP Sukanta Majumdar in a tweet on Sunday morning declared he had tested Covid-19 positive.

"I am doing well and taking doctors' advice. Requesting all those who have come in close contact with me in the last few days to monitor their health and get tested in case of any symptoms," Majumdar tweeted.

The results come at a time when India on Monday registered 48,464,27 Covid-19 cases across the country with a massive spike of 92,071 cases including 1,136 deaths in 24 hours.

Around 200 of the 785 MPs are above the age of 65 years and are among the population vulnerable to coronavirus.

Earlier, at least seven Union Ministers and around 25 MPs and MLAs had contracted the disease. Among them were Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who underwent a thorough medical examination at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) before the parliament session started.

An MP and several MLAS have died from the highly-infectious pandemic.

The Monsoon Session of parliament this time is being held with large-scale safety protocols in place that include staggered seating of MPs in chambers of both Houses to maintain physical distancing.

In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the MPs this time registered their attendance using the 'Attendance Register' App: a step forward in digitalising operations at the Parliament.

(With inputs from various sources)